Experience How ‘Playbooks’ Are

How ‘Playbooks’ Are Changing the Landscape of Real Estate Tech

A Q&A with Joe Skousen, founder and president of Inside Real Estate

by RISMedia Staff

Inside Real Estate continues to position itself as an innovation leader in the real estate tech space. In August 2020, they announced a significant Innovation Investment focused on accelerating their use of technology to dramatically enhance the experience of real estate professionals and consumers across the entire home transaction cycle.

With a clearly articulated vision and a playbook; we’re building these a veteran leadership team, it’s no playbooks directly into our surprise that Inside Real Estate kvCORE Platform, and is at the forefront of the game- building on the principles changing “playbook” technol- that have powered our ogy that is about to simplify life products for years: ease for real estate professionals of use, automation, cuseverywhere. Here, Joe Skousen, tomization and high ROI. CEO of CORE Division at Inside Skousen Real Estate, discusses the emerg- Talk about your plans ing tech and the company’s plans to to deliver this technology to our unveil playbooks to the industry. industry. Are other companies using playbooks? ‘Playbooks’ are an emerging buzz- JS: We’ve seen some technology word for 2021. What are they? companies in other industries usJoe Skousen: In a broad sense of the ing playbooks in a similar way. For word, a “playbook” is a collection of instance, SaaS marketing and sales tactics or methods that simplify an companies, like HubSpot or Outreach, action, sort of like a best practice to- provide a playbook tool that can be do list. It often just describes a docu- accessed from a CRM record in the mented, step-by-step process related platform to provide guidance to sales to a repeatable task. What we’re do- teams. ing at Inside Real Estate is quite dif- Our playbooks go a level deeper. ferent. We’re not merely writing out They’re a set of proven “plays,” more like a wizard that takes users through a curated set of activities, branded and tailored to the broker and agent, with a logical flow that makes it easier and faster to achieve their desired business outcome. We’ve seen how customers are using our technology successfully, so our new playbooks are based on best practices that will help kvCORE customers reduce the time it takes to accomplish their goals and leverage their investment at its highest potential.

How exactly will these ‘playbooks’ work inside kvCORE? JS: Our nickname for kvCORE is the “Productivity Platform,” and our playbooks in kvCORE are our next great productivity enhancement. It’s like hitting the “easy button.”

With playbooks built into kvCORE, we simplify and automate all the best practices around common real estate activities, such as promoting a new listing, hosting an open house, engaging your sphere, recruiting, farming, etc. We’ve curated the most impactful set of features and activities and put them into one simple, automated and streamlined workflow that lives right on your dashboard.

For example, our “Promote a Listing Playbook” is made up of 13 of the most powerful and proven kvCORE features, queued up for quick use. You simply hit play. Agents can customize plays and save changes as their default, so future campaigns are one click and done. It’s much more than just a task plan or list of activities; these playbooks are prepared and designed for launch. It’s a one-click experience for multichannel, multifaceted workflows that are proven to get maximum results.

When can we start seeing this new technology from Inside Real Estate? JS: We will be rolling out a series of playbooks to our 250k-plus kvCORE users starting in the spring of 2021. RE

What Agents Want vs. What They Say They Want

by Verl Workman

As brokers and owners, we try to provide services, solutions, training, technology, marketing, workspaces and so much more for our agents with the goal of making them happy and helping them be productive. But a majority of agents rarely use the services provided by the brokerage and complain that the commission structure is out of balance. So what do they really want? There are almost as many answers to this question as there are agents, but when you dig deeper, you learn that what most people crave is to be loved, to have and provide income for their families, to feel secure and to be part of a community that makes a difference.

While agents want more leads or higher splits, what they are actually saying is that they are not earning enough money to feel secure. As leaders, if we get to the root of the problem, we will most likely find that we already provide the tools agents need to accomplish their financial goals. So how do we get them to use the resources provided?

As an owner, you walk a fine line between creating accountability and leaving the agent discouraged or picked on, so they begin looking for other places where they can complain without accountability.

Coaching companies exist for this

reason. When agents engage with an outside coach, they invest in systems, tools and advice, and because they are paying for it, they are much more likely to follow the advice and utilize the tools. Accountability is a choice they make in this circumstance, and since they made the choice, they own the accountability.

A great coaching company in partnership with the brokerage will dive into the company-provided tools and resources and partner with the managers and leaders to help the agents who have engaged in the coaching adopt those systems. Great coaches are focused on keeping the agent dialed in on moneymaking activities and creating leverage in their business and lives.

As coaches, we can hold their feet to the fire by digging deep into their core motivating values, reminding them that their behavior is not consistent with their goals and beliefs. By tracking the activities that generate the desired results, coaches get to behaviors that allow agents to find increased income, better life balance, love and stability. By using the right third-party coaching partner, brokers can focus on their strengths and allow agents to invest and focus on their personal and business development.

Every office has a culture that is either intentionally or accidentally created. My challenge to each brokerage and office is to create your culture of productivity and coaching. Having partnered with many brokers and owners, we have found that we can serve more agents and create lives of purpose, productivity and prosperity by working together. RE

While agents want more leads or higher splits, what they are actually saying is that they are not earning enough money to feel secure.

Verl Workman is the founder and CEO of Workman Success Systems (385-282-7112), an international speaking, consulting and coaching company that specializes in performance coaching and building successful power agents and teams. Contact him at Verl@WorkmanSuccessSystems.com, or go to www.WorkmanSuccess.com to learn more.